Lund’s Partnership with DCF Recognized

November 7, 2011

Lund’s Partnership with DCF Recognized

In 2007, the Administration for Children and Families, in partnership with SAMHSA awarded fifty-three grants throughout the United States.  The grant proposal was for states to form regional partnerships to develop projects that would increase permanency outcomes for children whose parents were impacted by methamphetamines and/or other substances. Vermont’s successful application positioned Lund and the Burlington Family Services office of the Department for Children and Families to be pioneers in the field of child welfare and substance abuse.

Lund’s partnership with DCF focuses on serving families at the very beginning of their involvement with DCF by increasing screening, assessment and referrals for treatment at the very beginning of the child welfare case. The length of time that families were often waiting for services was unacceptable and decreased the likelihood of permanency for children.

“Historically, we almost always removed the child. The beauty of this component is that kids stay with their parents by coming here to our assessment bed and we get that comprehensive assessment,” said Marc Carr, DCF’s Assistant District Director.

Marc Carr, DCF's Assistant Director, Kim Coe, Lund's Director of Residential and Community Treatment, and Courtney Farrell, Lund's Associate Director of Residential and Community Treatment were all recognized with 'National Collaborative Leadership Awards' for their interagency partnership. Photo by Cat Cutillo/Lund

This partnership recently earned Lund Family Center and DCF ‘National Collaborative Leadership Awards’ during The National Conference on Substance Abuse, Child Welfare and the Courts, which was held in Maryland. The conference recognized continuing leadership and commitment to advancing interagency collaboration and innovative strategies for serving children and families.

“I’ve been in the field for 25 years and I’ve seen a lot of initiatives come and go and changes in practice. Without question, this has had the most positive impact on our practice with families that I’ve ever encountered,” said Carr at the conference.

Kim Coe, Lund’s Director of Residential and Community Treatment, says the collaboration has three key components that have been implemented to maximize the  successful outcomes for families:

• Assessment Bed Program-When families need a comprehensive assessment for child welfare, they can do that at Lund without being separated during that time.
• Co-Location-Substance abuse clinicians and case managers co-located at DCF to provide screening, assessment and referral services for families at their first contact with DCF.
• Supervised Visitation in Lund’s Children’s Play Lab-When families have been separated through the child welfare system, the family can have visitation in Lund’s child-centered environment where the visit is focused on supervision, education, modeling and support.

“It’s having such a positive effect on families. The partnership is about providing services to families on the front end,” said Coe, “We’re reducing barriers for success.”

Permalink